Lansford Borough Council plans to adopt a budget with no tax increase.

Council voted 6-0 Wednesday night to advertise a proposed budget with $2,051,201 in general fund expenses.

“We didn’t raise taxes. We did increase some spending, especially toward streets, for street repairs,” said Bruce Markovich, president of Lansford Borough Council.

The real estate tax rate will remain at 36.84 mills. The municipal property tax bill for a home valued at $40,000 will be $736.80.

Of that, 30 mills are for general purposes. The other 6.84 mills are for separate funds: 1.28 go toward debt service; 1.5 for fire equipment and firehouses; 0.5 for pensions and retirement; 2.81 for street lighting; and 0.75 for parks and recreation.

The budget includes a 30% increase for the streets department, which council hopes will allow them to pave more streets.

The budget for police is $726,078, about 15 percent less than 2020, due to vacant officer positions.

The public works budget increased to $475,332, with $109,737 of that coming from state liquid fuels tax funding.

When combined with other designated funds, total expenditures are just over $2.9 million. The sanitation budget is $343,000. The sewer transmission fund budget is $268,580. The streetlight fund budget is $88,200. The fire fund budget is $45,670. The park and recreation fund budget is $36,450. The budget does not use the $199,028 in COVID relief money the borough received from the American Rescue Plan Act, or the $500,000 the borough received in the county’s sale of the Panther Creek Railroad.

Council has a state grant for a new borough garage. They have also discussed possibly renovating the police station, municipal offices, but the budget does not identify any expenses for those projects in 2022.